A FORMER employee started a fire at a Winchester restaurant in revenge for being sacked.

Darron Bayley, 32, committed arson at the 15th century Old Chesil Rectory, endangering one of the oldest buildings in Winchester.

Now he is starting a 12-month prison sentence after admitting the offence.

Bayley, formerly of Winchester, now of Campbell Road, Eastleigh, used white spirit to start the blaze in a storeroom in July 2003.

Nobody was injured as the restaurant was closed, but the fire caused damage of £1,655 to the building, food and tablecloths.

Michelle Clarke, prosecuting, said Bayley was a kitchen porter until January 2003, when he was sacked after six years' service.

The owner, Philip Storey, fired him because Bayley was missing shifts and was not attending college even though he was receiving money to do so, said Miss Clarke.

She said Bayley went drinking in Winchester on July 14. At around 10pm, and having drunk six pints of beer, Bayley went to his old workplace and used white spirit to start a fire.

Then Bayley called the fire brigade and walked to Mr Storey's house in Wharf Hill to alert him.

"He (Bayley) told him that the restaurant was on fire and he had called the fire brigade. He appeared to be drunk," added Miss Clarke.

She said firefighters put out the blaze and police arrested Bayley at the scene, later finding white spirit on his shoes matching traces in the storeroom.

Louis Weston, mitigating, said Bayley was feeling lonely and depressed after splitting from his girlfriend in 2002.

Mr Weston said: "Although he doesn't have a recognisable psychiatric illness he does have a borderline personality disorder."